iO 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



January G, 190G. 



ww^^^ 



INSECT NOTES. 



Beetle attacking the Cotton Worm. 



In a letter to the Iin]ierial Comiuissioner of 

 Agriculture, forwarding for identification a beetle 

 that feeds on the cotton worm, Mr. H. G. S. Branch, of 

 Barbuda, states that these beetles feed greedily on the 

 cotton worm and on the chrysalis, seeming to prefer 

 the latter, the inside of which is eaten out clean, 

 leaving only the empty shell. The beetles have been 

 kept for ten days in a box and fed with cotton worms. 

 They are to be found only in the portions of the field 

 infested by the worms, and when the worms are gone 

 the beetles disappear. Mr. Branch believes that some 

 of the beetles are killed by eating the poisoned worms. 



The Entomologist on the staff of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, to whom the specimen and 

 letter were referred, reports as follows- — 



Tlie beetle received from ilr. Branch is Calosoma 

 calidum, a well-known predaceous beetle of North America. 

 It lias been known as an active enemy of the cotton worm in 

 the Southern States and of the gypsy moth caterpillar in 

 Massachusetts. 



It is a general feeder and seems to attack almost any 

 species of caterpillar. 



The beetle is about 1 inch in length and 1 inch in 

 width, greenish-black in colour, with brighter green reflections 

 from the wing covers. Six rows of distinct bronze spots 

 run lengthwise of the wing covers. The mandibles or jaws 

 are large, the antennae slender, and about half as long as the 

 body. 



The occurrence of this insect in Barbuda is of especial 

 interest, as it does not seem to have been previously recorded 

 from the West Indies, and is tlie first beetle reported to this 

 Department as attacking the cotton worm in these islands. 



Cotton Insects in West Africa. 



In L' Agriculture Pratii/ue des J\n/s Chaud, for 

 November, there is given a list of insects found on the 

 cotton plants in French West Africa. Many of these are 

 similar in habit to the cotton pests known in the West 

 Indies, while others are difi'erent. 



The roots and stems are attacked by a small .species 

 of the family Buprestidae {Splunriptera sp.). The entire 

 life-cj'cle is spent in the cotton plant, both larvae and adult 

 beetles boring through the wood of the stem and roots and 

 causing the death of the plant. 



Two species of flea beetles attack the leaves {Xisotra 

 dilecta and JVisofra vniforniis) and two Lepidopterous 

 caterpillars (Rrgenia ornata and Sylepta derojata) attack 

 the flowers and young pods. A small, green plant louse 

 lives on the back of the leaves, and three species of lady- 

 birds are found on the cotton which sesm to be the natural 

 enemies of this plant louse. Thef-e are Cydonia vicina, 

 Chihrnenes hmata, and Cliilocorus S[). 



Several species of grasshopper feed on the leaves of the 



cotton, but are not partial to this plant, attacking it only 

 incidentally, or when a field of cotton lies in the line of 

 march of a migrating swarm. One species (Parhi/tyhis 

 migrat(jrii)kks) completely destroyed a field of cotton near 

 Segou last year. 



A small, red caterpillar (Farias insulana) eats out the 

 inside of the unripe pods and causes a considerable reduction 

 in the amount of the crop. 



JIany other insects are mentioned, but they seem to be 

 of less importance up to the present time. Among them 

 are A'czara viridula, the common green bug of the ^Vest 

 Indies, and a species of Dysdercus. 



Mealy Bug on Bananas. 



The following note is extracted from the report in 

 the Gardeners Chron iclo of a meeting of the .Scientific 

 Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society held on 

 November 21 : — 



From Las Palmas came specimens of an insect which 

 'attacks both plant and fruit of bananas, particularly the 

 latter, at the time of the rainy season, when it seeks shelter 

 from the rain between the fruits and eats its way into the 

 fruit.' Mr. Saunders said ' The in.sect is one of the "mealy 

 bugs," probably Dactylopus citri. Paraffin emulsion will kill 

 tiiese inst-cts, but how is this or any other insecticide to be 

 applied ett'ectually to clusters of bananas I It might be 

 possible to tie the bunches of fruit up in bags and then 

 introduce hydrocyanic acid gas by means of a tube from 

 some vessel in which the gas was generated.' 



Ant Heaps. 



Ke\icwing a paper b}- Mr. H. Ingle, in the Trans- 

 vaal A(jri(tiltiiral Journal, Vol. 3, no. 12, the Experi- 

 ment Stutt'iii Record, for November 1905, has the 

 following note: — 



Analyses of ant heaps and of surrounding soil are 

 rei)orted which ' indicate much greater fertility in the ant 

 heap material than in the soil on which it occurs. The 

 organic matt; r and nitrogen are particidarly noticeable, the 

 latter being more than four times as abundant in the ant 

 heap, while the " available" potash and phosphoric acid are 

 also much higher.' These analyses, as well as the experience 

 of a lunuber of practical farmers which is recorded, indicate 

 that 'pulverized ant heaps might with advantage be used as- 

 a manure on poor soils, and should be of great value in 

 gardens, for seed beds, etc., provided that their physical 

 projierties — fine texture, etc. — do not render them too close 

 and inniervious.' 



CEYLON COCOA-NUT TRADE. 



An article in the Bulletin of the Imperial 

 Institute has the following note on the Ceylon cocoa- 

 nut trade : — ■ 



The exports of the produce of the cocoa-nut palm ia 

 lyOo represented over a quarter of the total value of Ceylon 

 l)roduc-e, the value being nearly 26,000,000 rupees 

 (£1,730,000). The most valuable product is the oil, 

 followed, in order of their importance, by copra, desiccated 

 cocoa-nut, poonac, and coir. The bulk of the oil goes to the 

 United Kingdom, America, and India, and the copra chiefly 

 to France and Germany, where the oil is expressed. England 

 and Germany are the [irincipal consumers for the coir rope,, 

 yarn, and fibre. 



